Guides for portable, handheld power tools, such as routers, jig saws and circular saws are well known in the prior art. The use of power tool guides are essential to the accurate grooving, cutting and drilling of materials, such as plywood, plaster board, particle board and composite board and the like. Portable handheld power tools cannot normally be used for precision cabinetry, carpentry or wood working because of their design limitations. For example, circular saws are capable of making many types of cuts in many types of materials are difficult to use to make a straight and accurate cut without the use of a guide.
Typical power tool guides have significant shortcomings and limitations in their operation. Separate types of power tool guides are required for different power tools, such as a circular saw, jig saw, router, planer, sander, etc. Power tool guides are not easily extendable, with their range limited to their size. Power tool guides are typically large in size (i.e. width), and unwieldy, making them hard to transport. Most power tool guides require an off-set measurement and an off-set measurement device simply to produce an accurate cut line, making the device labor intensive, and inaccurate.
There are many types of power tool guides. A portable guide, for use with a circular saw or router to assist in making straight cuts or grooves within panels or sheets by moving the power tool along a straight edged guide bar, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,309 issued to Molburg. Clamp assemblies secure the portable guide to the material and support the material by clamping on both sides of the cut line. Power tool guides that support a circular saw on a guide bar or extension, such that the saw rests on a surface of the guide bar during the cutting rather than on the material are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,869,951; 3,983,776; 4,050,340; 4,660,450; 5,427,006; and 5,472,029. The circular saw is cradled and held in a channel between tracking-type members to prevent lateral movement. Power tool guides that use a rigid frame member which mount to a bench or worktable are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,016,649; 4,945,799 and 4,995,285. The rigid frame has a plate to attach the circular saw to. The attached saw then slides along a cut line. Another power tool guide for a circular saw is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,114 issued to Pennington. The power tool guide has a tracking guide bar and an integral clamp secured to the guide bar for aligning the guide bar to the work piece.
Therefore, there is a need for a power tool guide which functions with a variety of handheld power tools, is extendable in length of material, does not require complex offset measurements and is easily transported.